Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band - Dirt On My Diamonds Vol. 1 || Out: 17 Nov via Provogue

This latest release from Kenny Wayne Shepherd - Dirt On My Diamonds Vol 1 features 8 tracks, and clocks in at under 38 minutes, which is fine in this download age, but I would feel a bit cheated if i had bought a physical copy.  However having said that, the 8 tunes (including a cover of an Elton John track) are the sort of quality you would expect from KWS.  Some funky riffs are thrown into the mix alongside the blues rock we have come to expect and combines with some great sounding guitar solos.  His skill is not in question, he's a 'feel' player rather than a flash one,  he finds a great groove and goes with it.

Ironically one of things that attracted me to the early Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band was the brilliant Noah Hunt on vocals.  He's used sparingly on this album, but Kenny's own vocals have definitely improved over the years, hes a very proficient vocalist now. 

I like all the songs here, but, truth be told I don't think they are his best, but they definitely grow in stature after repeated plays,  especially the title track.. and they sound like they're having a blast on Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting.

The addition of the horn section was genius, and frankly I am playing this album while writing this and it genuinely sounds better now than when i started typing... so buy it and play it - loud -  several times, then you just might love it. 

Photo (c) Jim Arbogast and used with thanks.